Numerical simulation of the quicksand phenomenon by a 3D coupled Discrete Element - Lattice Boltzmann hydromechanical model

Mouloud Mansouri (1) , Moulay Saïd El Youssoufi (2, 3, 4) , François Nicot (5)

1 Département de Génie Civil
2 LMGC - Laboratoire de Mécanique et Génie Civil
3 MIST - Laboratoire de micromécanique et intégrité des structures
4 SIGECO - Structures Innovantes, Géomatériaux, ECOconstruction
5 UR ETGR (ETNA) - Érosion torrentielle, neige et avalanches

This paper deals with the numerical simulation of the quicksand phenomenon using a coupled Discrete Elements – Lattice Boltzmann hydromechanical model. After the presentation of the developed numerical model, simulations of ascending fluid flow through granular deposits are performed. The simulations show that the quicksand actually triggers for a hydraulic gradient very close to the critical hydraulic gradient calculated from the global analysis of classical soil mechanics, that is, when the resultant of the applied external pressure balances submerged weight of the deposit. Moreover, they point out that the quicksand phenomenon does not occur only for hydraulic gradients above the critical hydraulic gradient, but also in some cases with slightly lower gradients. In such cases, a more permeable zone is first gradually built at the bottom of the deposit through a grain rearrangement, which increases the hydraulic gradient in the upper zones and triggers the phenomenon.

Mots clés: discrete element method; granular soils; mollecular dynamics; lattice Boltzmann; fluid-solid interaction; quicksand

Domaines: Matériaux; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]; Mécanique des matériaux [physics.class-ph]; Dynamique, vibrations; Risques

Mouloud Mansouri, Moulay Saïd El Youssoufi, François Nicot. Numerical simulation of the quicksand phenomenon by a 3D coupled Discrete Element - Lattice Boltzmann hydromechanical model. International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, 2016, 41 (3), pp.338-358. ⟨10.1002/nag.2556⟩. ⟨hal-01405485⟩